Balancing Innovation and Access: Ethical Challenges in Indian Pharmaceutical Sector for Global Companies

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-559-1_12How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Pharmaceutical MNC Exit; Indian Regulatory Environment; Intellectual Property Challenges; Drug Price Control; Market Competition Dynamics

Abstract

In recent years, several global pharmaceutical organizations are closing down or reducing their operations in India. Considering the growth of Indian pharmaceutical generic market, this trend appears paradoxical. This paper tries to find the fundamental issues present in Indian pharmaceutical sector that are causing global companies to exit or downsize their operations. A primary contributing factor is the price control system that was regulated by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority which affects the profitability part of the branded products of these multinational organizations. Additionally, the challenges related with regulatory complexity, intense completion from Indian generics, intellectual property and patent issues have compelled many global firms to either exit the market or scale back their operations.

Using a descriptive approach which includes primary as well as secondary data, the study addresses various issues in this industry in relation to global firms. While Indian healthcare system and Ministry of Public Health focuses on providing affordable and accessible medicines, this often adversely affects the objectives of global firms, particularly with respect to the investments and efforts they dedicate to research and innovation.

This paper suggests a balanced approach that promotes innovation and research while protecting the public interest. By fostering an environment that nurtures intellectual property standardizes regulatory procedures and upholds ethical standards thereby India can attract global pharmaceutical companies. This, in turn, will help elevate healthcare standards in Indian healthcare sector.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Arun Vijay
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/19
TI  - Balancing Innovation and Access: Ethical Challenges in Indian Pharmaceutical Sector for Global Companies
BT  - Proceedings of the Global Innovation and Technology Summit “AAROHAN 3.0”_HSS track (GITS-HSS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 168
EP  - 179
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-559-1_12
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-559-1_12
ID  - Vijay2026
ER  -